Dumping mechanism for dump scows



April 8, 1924.

'w. G. MACKIE DUMPING MECHANISM FOR DUMP SCOWS .Filed July 14, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l April s, 1924. 1,489,449v

W. G. MACKIE DUMPING MECHNISM FOR DUMP SCOWS Filed July 14, 1923 2 SheetsSheet 2 I I Imm/lkw Zai/Mw gwen@ futon/w11,

Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

v WILLIAM' GmiAoK, orennnirnarwrsdoivsm" DUMHNG MEoJANrsM nonl nuiur 'sco'ws Appncationniedi-Juiy14, 1923. serial No. 651,522.

Tall whom t may concern; Y f.

Be it known that I, VILLIAM Gf. MACKIE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Green Bay, inthe county or' Brown and YState of Wisconsin, have invented .certain Vnewand useful Improvements in Dumping Mechanisms for Dump Scows, of-whichthe had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to Vdump soows", andY particularly tomeans for lowering and lift'- ing the dumping gates of scowso this type.

Ordinarily a scow of thisV character'is divided into pockets, as they' are called,the bottom of each pocket, which constitutes also a portion of the bottom'of" the V"scow, being formed of a pair of hinged gates. These gates are normally supported 1in a horizontal position and the material carried by the scowis carried on these gates. Then if it is desiredfto dump the material a paw] and ratchet mechanism or like devices are used for letting loose thegates, whichswin'g down under theV Weight` and discharge the load. Afterwards the pawl andfratchetde vices are used for. raising the gates.Y

Where dumping scows are used in-carf rying and discharging soft semi-liquid or like material such as is dredged fro'mrthe bottoms' of channels and liarbors,the dumping peration isa dangerous jobfor the man performing it.

One of the objects ofi the. present inventtion is` to provide means'wherebythe dump-'- ing gatesforming thebottom ofthescow may be'heldraised by hydrauliop-ressureand maybe dumped lby air pressure,`and`in this connection toA provide means whereby; .the

bottom doors or gates ofl any'l'on'e pocket may be operated separatelyrfrom"theibottom doors or'gates of any other pocket.

A5 further object to provide means/ for opening and closing these doors or gates of such character that ythe speed of the dis,-V

charge of the contents ofthe hoppers or pockets may be controlled, which isfparticularly important whenha'ndlin'g sott, semi#V liquid or like material.

Ajstill further object is whereby the doors orV ly lockedin their fully closedY or partially to provide means Viclosed positions by means which cannot be jarred or. shaken loose. Y I

Another object isto' provide a construction kof this character so formed that the doors or'gatesfmay be raised or lowered by rates may bev positive;`

one o r two*poperators and without any dan- Figure il is an elevation of a scow or barge following 1s a specification, reference .being Y constructed in accordance vWith-myinven tion, oney side wallof thefbarge beingv broken away, the transverse' bulklieads vand bottom ofthe barge' being .in section;

' Figure 2 is afragmentary top plan view of' tlfebargathe bargevbeing partly in section; Y v

cciV

Figure is a verticalvsectional view Y through oneV oth'ecylin'ders with the' corresponding piston depressed;

igure 4 isa ldiagraminatic kView or" my i mechanism; g, Y

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-'5 of Figure l.V L

Referring to thev drawings, A designates a scow of ordinary type. This scow, as illustrated, is provided with a medial portion B divided by transverse walls vb intoa series i .ofpockets or hppers.l The sidesC 'of these hoppers are upwardly` and foutw'a'rdlyincllnedjthesezwalls Gf extendingfrom the bottoms of the hoppers'A upward tothe deck beams D. pfForuiing therbottoms ofthe hoppersfarethefgates :or dors Ewhich are hinged atv c, therebeing j two" of: thesegates orV doors to; each hopper.; These' gates or doors,` are bth 'of them engagedat ,their free v ends ywith leibleelementsfe. There are va pairfoic. these Aflexible elements at eachpair ofird'oorsEk vrSo farhave describeda construction Whichi isfprac'tically mey ordinarily foundon all duiiupi'ngscows. Y o J In `my` construction; I'provide 1 withinV the Vseries offp'airso'f cylinders 10.y f There'are `a pairof cylinders 'to eachpocket; r Each cyl-l indei hastherein Ya piston 1'1 and. a "piston ro'd .12 extending upward' throughv the head body 'ofthe `scow:"exterior to"`the hoppers a 'Y ofithl cylinder. These p'istonrods at' their 1when'the'pistnsin'ai-,pair of'gcylinders are raised, the Jdoors'E will be released and will l swing downward, discharging the load, and that when the pistons 11 are depressed the doors will be brought upward to a horizontal position to receive aload. I do not wish to be limited to any Vparticular means for supporting the flexible element 14 and guiding it.

Disposed within the scow in any suitable location thereon is a water reservoir or tank 17,v and extending longitudinally along the scow is a pipe 18 which is common to allI of the cylinders 10. This pipe V18 at intervals between each pair of cylinders has a branch 19 provided with a globevalve20 and this branch 19 is connected by branches 21 to the upper ends of the pair of cylinders 10. The pipe 18 at one end extends downward, as at 22, into the reservoir or tank 17 and is provided with a valve 23. A branch pipe 24; also extends up from the bottom of the reservoir 17 and discharges into the pipe 18.

A pump 25 which I have villustrated diagrammatically and whichmay be a pumpV of any suitable constructionis connected by a pipe 26 to the pipe 24 and aboveand below this 'inlet connection are disposed the check valves 27. These check valves open upwardly. The pump 25 may be of any suitable type, as before stated, and maybe operated by any suitable power as, for instance, an ordinary internal combustion engine mounted upon the deck of the scow or in any other suitable position. This pump upon the intake stroke draws water from the tank 17 and upon thedischarge stroke forces this water up through the pipe 24 into the pipe 18, or if valve 20 bel open it forces water through the pipe 19 into the branches 21 and then into the pair of cylinders 10, forcing the pistons in these cylinders downward to their full extent. If now any countervailing force acts to force the pistons upward, the waterV will be forced back through thepipes 21, 19 and 18 into the tank or reservoir 17, the upper check valve 27 acting to prevent the water'from being forced back into the pump.

Associated with the tank 17 is aV compressedA air tank 28 which is connected to an air pump 29 and which is provided with the air exhaust valve 30. From the air reservoir 28 extends a pipe 31 having therein a check valve 32, which extends beneath'all of the cylinders 10 and is connected by nipples 33 to these cylinders. Thisl air pump may be operated by'hand orit may be operated by power.

The operation of the mechanism described is as follows: With the gates or doors E closed, that'is in the position shown in l3`ig-l ure if it be desired to dump the load, the air pump is operated or compressed air is taken from the tank 28 and forced through pipeV 31 into the lower ends of the cylinders 10. The valves 20 Vand 23 remain closed while the compressed air is admitted below the pistons and then these valves are` gradu-A ally opened after the air pressure below the pistons has attained its maximum. This forces the water in the cylinders out through the pipes 21, 19 and 18 into thek tank 17, assuming that the valves 2O and 23 are opened. Until these valves are opened, however, it is obvious that no pressure lof air can force the pistons upward. Vith a constant pressure of air below the pistons and the valves 2O and 23 closed, the pistons will remain in the lower ends of the cylin-y ders and the gates E will remain'y in a horizontal position. Assoon as the valves 2O and'23, however, are opened the pressure ofy air will force the pistons` upward, the water will pass through the pipes 21,19 and 22 backinto the tank, 17 andthe gates E will be lowered, discharging the cargo; l

i If it bedesired to hold the gates at any desired points, the valve is closed and this will prevent any further upward movement of the pistons. If itbe desired to control the opening of the: gates and to open these gates very slowly, the valves 2O and 23may-I be only partially opened,` which will only permit a relatively slowy passage of the Cil water from the cylinders 10 into the reservoirV 17 and thus the gates may be readily controlled. On the other hand,.if it be desired to open the gates quickly, the valves 2() and 23 are opened to their kfull extent, Y

the pipes 24, 19 and 21 into the yupper ends Y of the pistons. This causes the airtofA be forced outward through the `pipe31 into i the compressed air reservoir 28 andany ex' no cess pressure willescape throughthe valve 30 in` this reservoir. As soonas the lgates have been fully raised, the valves 2O land 23 are again closed and this will hold the, gates in their closed position.l

It will vbe understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limitedk to Ythe exact ar` j rangement of parts illustrated nor to 4any particular form of valves, valve gear, pumps or pump driving mechanism, nor to the arf ticular location of theparts. shown.Y he principle of the invention may be applied in various ways. construction is such Vthat it is an easy matter to control the opening and closing-.of the discharge Agates and that there isv nol danger to the person operating these gates.

It will be obvious that the.`

One of the particular advantages of their' l invention lies in the fact that the gates can# not be jarred or shaken loose, that is so as to swing open, as is the case rwhere rollers and ratchets are used for raising, holding and releasing the doors or gates. Furthermore, this apparatus provides for the control of the speed of opening and, therefore, the speed of discharge from the hoppers, which is particularly desirable where these barges or scows are handling soft, semiliquid mud, silt or like material.

l. A scow divided to form a plurality of hoppers, a pair of vertically movable dumping gates associated with the lower end of eac-h hopper and means for operating said gates comprising a plurality of cylinders lassociated with each hopper, a piston in each cylinder, operative connections from the pis-V ton to the corresponding pair of gates, a liquid pump, a series ofvpipes, each pipe being common to the cylinders associated with a hopper, a pipe line Voperatively connected at intervals to the series of pipes, a manually operable valve in said connection controlling flow from the pipe line into each of the first named pipes,.said pipe line being connected to the pump, a check valve in the pipe line preventing return flow to the pump, a liquid tank having a valved connection to the p1pe line, the valve being manually operable, a check valve preventing flow from the pump into the tank, and a source of compressed air operatively connected to the opposite ends of the several cylinders.

2. A scow divided to form aplurality Yof hoppers, a pair of vertically movable dumping gates associated with the lower end of each hopper and means for operating said gates comprising a plurality of cylinders associated with each hopper, a piston in each cylinder, operative connections from the pis- Ving of the gates.

non to the corresponding pair of gates, a.`

liquid pump, a series of pipes, each pipe being common to the cylinders associated with a hopper, a pipe line operatively connected at intervals to the series of pipes, a manually operable valve in said connection controlling low from the pipe line into each of the first named pipes, said pipeline being connected to the pump, a check valve in the pipe line preventing return flow to the pump, a liquid tank having a Valved connection to the pipe line, the valve being manually operable, va check valve preventing flow from the pump into the tank, a compressed air tank, a pipe line leading there-- attached to the pistons passing over the deck of the scow, operative connections from the iexibleV connections to the corresponding pair of gates, quadrant chocks over which the flexible connections pass, and manually controlled means for forcing fluid into one end or the other of the cylinders to cause the movement of the pistons in one direction to raise the gates or a movement of the pistons in an opposite direction to permit the lower- In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature.

WILLIAM G. MACKIE. 

